IKEA cannot depart on friendly terms
Rospotrebnadzor has joined the legal battle against IKEA, according to the department’s Telegram channel.
“The service has joined the case because it is allowed to express views on potential consumer rights breaches,” they stated, pledging to utilize “all available legal tools” to safeguard the rights and legitimate interests of Russians.
Rospotrebnadzor pointed out that, according to the Consumer Rights Protection Law, Russian legal entities acting on behalf of foreign brands are responsible to customers as manufacturers, importers or sellers.
On July 6, Izvestia reported that the Public Consumer Initiative (OPI) filed a lawsuit against IKEA with the Khimki court, demanding that the company partially resume imports and production of furniture in Russia. This is necessary so that people can exchange or repair items they have already purchased, the organization said.
The Swedish chain closed stores in Russia and Belarus on March 4 due to military action in Ukraine and sanctions that led to supply disruptions. On June 15, the company announced a reduction in the scale of business in Russia.
At the end of June, IKEA opened a sale of goods for store employees, and on July 5 – for everyone. The company said that all items that are in stock will be available for purchase online within a few weeks. They are not sold in offline stores. However, on the first day of the sale, the company’s website crashed, which was explained by technical reasons.
The PIE believes that the company, by announcing an online sale, is trying to “get rid of the leftover products” and leave the market, instead of building up stocks of goods that are needed to meet the requirements of buyers. “The lawsuit filed is aimed at curbing this unfair practice,” OPI chairman Oleg Pavlov said. According to him, IKEA is able to fulfill its obligations to customers, but “deliberately avoids it.”
The press service of IKEA then stated that the company complies with consumer protection law. They promised that they would fulfill all the requirements stipulated by law, provide warranty and service maintenance of goods, their exchange and return.
Under the terms of the sale, the order amount in one application cannot exceed 1 million rubles, the quantity of goods with one article number – 70 units, and the weight – no more than 1 ton. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Ufa and adjacent territories (no further than 50 km). The same applies to self-delivery from stores or points of issue of orders from Ozon and Russian Post. You can return the goods within 14 days after purchase, the warranty will be valid for two months.
Ingka Group, the parent company of IKEA, said it hopes to return to Russia in the future, but now sees no conditions for this.
